Monday, June 21, 2010

3 Months Old

Here's where we stand 3 months into this wild ride called parenthood (sorry, kind of lengthy, but this is a great way for my own selfish purposes to capture how things are going)...

Miss Emma Grace:

Sleep: Emma is finally in her crib! Hip hip hooray! And she's sleeping pretty well. We elevated the mattress some to help with the reflux. We try to put her down between 7-8pm. She usually goes until 2-3am. Feeds quickly and I put her right back down. She then sleeps until around 7am. I feed her quickly again and put her right back down. Then she sleeps until about 9am. She then can handle about an hour of wakefulness before she goes back down for a nap, which usually lasts at least an hour. Then, throughout the day, I let her have no more than 1 1/2 hours of wakefulness and then try to get her to nap. She has good napping weeks and not so good ones. But all in all, we are pleased with where we stand sleep-wise.

Reflux: Emma takes a 15mg solutab of Prevacid once a day. I think it's helping. She hasn't been nearly as fussy, she's spitting up less and doesn't seem to be in pain.

Developmental: The big milestone recently was rolling from stomach to back. She really has to work hard at it and sometimes won't do it all. But it's fun when she cooperates. She also babbles a lot, has great neck strength, and bears a lot of weight on her legs when you hold her up. She also seems to recognize her daddy and me and usually rewards us with some precious smiles. But she also will give strangers smiles, so no anxiety yet.

I've printed out a list from the American Pregnancy Association that details milestones by month. Yes, I know each baby is different but it is nice seeing around what month she should be doing what. The items listed for the "Fourth Month" that Emma hasn't started doing yet are: tries to reach for objects but overshoots, grasps objects with both hands (she does do this with her blankie), and laughs. I can't wait for the laughs!

Work: My paid maternity leave ended on June 11th. I was very fortunate to get 12 weeks paid. I am now on the remaining 4 weeks of unpaid leave that I get under FMLA (in the D.C. area, you get 16 weeks for some reason). That takes me until about mid-July. I am going into work this afternoon to meet with the head on my account to figure out what kind of part-time options I may have. I know for sure that I'm not going to go back full-time. I would love to figure out something that allows me to do a certain number of hours during the week so I can work at night and over the weekend and not be locked into a set 8 hours workday. And something that limits the amount of time I have to be in an office. We'll see. I have my own research consulting company that I started a few years ago and have been fortunate enough to get some work during my leave. If I can't figure out something with my current employer, I may try to ramp up my own business so I can work from home.

This Summer: In about three weeks, hubby, baby, and I head to BERMUDA for a wedding. I absolutely can't wait. I've always wanted to go there. Of course, I didn't think I'd be toting an infant, but it will be great nonetheless. This will be our first plane travel and hotel staying with Emma. Hopefully it will all go smoothly. It is less than a 2 hours flight so it really shouldn't be bad at all. And we got a crib for our hotel room so hopefully Emma won't know the difference.

Sunscreen: I'm starting to stock up on sunscreen, which I use on Emma every day and will load on in Bermuda. So far, I really like California Baby (though it's WAY too expensive) and Blue Lizard Baby (much cheaper). I read that you should use a non-chemical kind with zinc and/or titanium dioxide that just sits on the surface of the skin. I tried Neutrogena Baby Pure and Free sunscreen and it gave Emma bumps on her skin, which is weird because I don't think she has sensitive skin.

Favorite Toys: Emma really doesn't pay any attention to toys yet. I put rattles and other fun, colored stuff in front of her and she just stares. She does love, love, love her playmat (and it was a free, hand-me-down, so even better!). She will stay on it for 20-30 minutes straight, just staring at the blinking lights and kicking her feet. She also just got some black and white animal flashcards that she seems to like. Again, she just stares but it seem to captivate her and hopefully it's making her into a genius :) It will be so much fun when she plays more, but that brings more toys and we don't have much space in our condo.

The wrap-up: I think that about wraps it up. I find myself frequently saying "I can't wait until Emma does..." such and such. But then I stop and kick myself. I want to enjoy every single day with her and appreciate the stage that she is in that very day. I don't want her to grow up too fast. I want her to be my little baby girl for as long as possible. And I sometimes kiss her chubby cheeks or stroke her back and think that at some point she won't want me to do that anymore. So I try to appreciate every single second. I think I fall more in love with her everyday. Ok, I better stop. Getting a little choked up! Kudos to those of you who read the whole post! Thanks.

6 comments:

  1. It sounds like Emma is SUCH a good sleeper. That must be really nice. :) She gets cuter everyday. . . which I'm sure you realize. :)

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  2. Absolutely adorable! Those beautiful big full eye lashes. I hope you're able to return to work part-time. It's good you have your own business to fall back on. Good luck!

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  3. Precious little girl! Thanks for updating!

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  4. Sounds like she's doing so great!

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  5. WOW! What a good sleeper! She is precious and sounds just perfect :)

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  6. the days are long but the years are short :)
    i'm glad she's finally in her crib and seems to be meeting all of hr milestones!

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